Arlene Balser, West Hartford's First Woman Police Officer, Dies At 90

WEST HARTFORD — Arlene Balser, the first woman to hired by the West Hartford Police Department as a sworn officer, died July 13 at her home in Florida. She was 90.

At a time when women on the police force were rare, the former nurse was hired to work in the juvenile division in 1959. The department didn't hire another female officer until 1975.

Raised by various family members after her mother's death, Balser graduated from Willimantic High School in 1942 and went on to study at the Meriden Hospital School of Nursing. While in nursing school, Balser served as a cadet nurse at Fort Devens, Mass., during World War II, according to her family. She worked as a registered nurse for three years.

After her first husband, Wyllis J. Swartz, died in 1956, she tried running his business but was unsuccessful, according to her son, Reid Swartz of Fort Myers, Fla.

In need of a job, Balser heard that the police department where she lived was hiring a woman police officer, and being an RN was one of the requirements, Swartz said.

Balser was the only applicant for the job, according to West Hartford Police Assistant Chief Robert T. McCue. She was the "first woman appointed … as a sworn member with full arrest powers," he wrote in an email.

Balser mostly worked with juveniles and shoplifters, and served as the department's matron when female criminals were locked up. She was often called in the middle of the night to assist with women, Swartz recalled.

"She was a real nice person and she fit right in perfectly with the job of working with kids. She had a rapport with them," said former police Chief Robert McCue, who is the assistant chief's father.

The senior McCue was assigned to the juvenile division a year after Balser was. "It was mostly routine, kids getting into trouble and counseling them," he said. "She was very good at that."

A March 7, 1965, Courant profile about her said the 5-foot-2 Balser came to work in "street clothes, high heels and earrings," with her badge "stashed in her purse."

"I've only got one policewoman, and I don't want every shoplifter in town to know what she looks like," then-Chief Vincent Hurlbut said in the story.

In the same article, Balser recalled using her handcuffs only once, on what she called her "most exciting assignment," which involved taking a couple back to Connecticut from Las Vegas. She and another officer took a train both ways to Nevada, arriving home just before Christmas, Swartz said.

The "mild-mannered, easygoing" Balser struggled at times with being a woman in a man's world, Swartz said. She passed the sargeant's test but was never promoted, he said.

In 1976, she fought for and was granted back pay for serving as a detective for more than 60 days, because she was given detective duties without being promoted to the position, according to another Courant story.

Still, Balser – and her family – took great pride in what she did, her children said.

In the 1965 article, Balser said she cared about the women and youth she dealt with, and shared stories of some who were inspired by her to do better. One decided to join Alcoholics Anonymous after Balser suggested it.

"You're the only person who was ever concerned about me," Balser recalled the woman saying.

Balser is survived by sons and daughters-in-law Reid and Wendy Swartz of Fort Myers, Fla., and Richard and Sharon Balser of Manchester, five grandchildren, two great-grandsons, two sisters, a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law.

A funeral will be held at Sheehan Hilborn Breen Funeral Home, 1084 New Britain Ave, at 11 a.m. on Friday.